Feeling Hollow
by imredwhiteandblack
Summary: this is my version of Edward's time away from Bella when he left in New Moon.  third fanfic. enjoy : Edward's POV
1. Leaving

I flew through the trees, agony ripping through my entire being. I had to focus on my feet not turning around and going back to the reason for my existence. I imagined her standing there, fragile and utterly betrayed. She probably hated me. I could live with that if it kept her safe. I would have jumped into a pit fire and burned to my death rather than do that to her, and right now, it seemed like a logical idea. I wondered morbidly what that would mean to her if I died. I wondered if she wouldn't care. I knew that she hated me but also knew that she would never wish that upon anyone, even a scoundrel like me. She was much too selfless; however, I disserved the most painful and slow torture there was made possible for a vampire. I hoped this attempt of being selfless on my part would really make her safe. That it would no longer take her human life away from her.

I ran faster than I had ever before, letting the pain rip me apart. I deserved it. I deserved much worse than it. But, honestly, I couldn't imagine pain much greater than what I was feeling that moment.

_Bella, Bella, Bella, Bella, Bella . . . _her name rang in my head nonstop; each time, a blow to my heart.

_My heart._

I scoffed bitterly. I had no heart. If I thought that I had gained a fraction of it back when Bella entered my existence, well, I was sure it was gone now. It felt as if the crystallized thing became more brittle than ever and shattered into a pile of dust inside my chest. And each one of my breaths carried the dust out of my body and released it into the air outside. It would soon be gone all together. It would be left here in Forks, with Bella. Along with her gifts and photos under the floorboards.

I had left my car in Bella's driveway, knowing I would not be able to get away without running. It would take her approximately three minutes to return to the front yard of her father's house; just enough time for Carlisle to retrieve my car and then drive to Portland and drop it off as he had promised. The note I had left on the kitchen counter for Charlie would give him a warning if Bella did not come back right away. I doubted that she would wander, but I didn't want to leave him without a way to find her if she did.

I made my way out of Forks quickly and turned in the direction of Oregon. I took cover in the trees the entire time I ran until I slowed dramatically. When I was far enough away from what I had left behind, I collapsed pathetically onto the forest floor and curled into a tight, upright ball. Pain ate at my insides, turning them into nothing. I felt absolutely hollow. My now empty insides were replaced with a different kind of venom, an all consuming kind. Her face filled my mind. It was all I could see. The pain I could see in her eyes when I lied to her face ate at me furthermore. How could she believe me so easily? It made no sense. I had expected her to put up a fight but she didn't even doubt one word I had said. I thought she knew how much I desperately needed her. I was prepared to say anything that would make her doubt me. It was so easy. Though, I was relieved that I didn't have to say anything that would cause her even more pain.

I continued to writhe in self hatred as her agonized face stayed in its place right behind my eyelids. And then something blew up in my vision . . . It was my midnight sun. It imploded, taking everything bright with it. I was left there in the dark, blinded . . . helpless. The helplessness was so intense, that it literally caused me to scream out in agony. I searched everywhere in my night sky for my sun. It was nowhere to be found. It was useless anyway, I was blind now. Even if the stars had stayed, I would not be able to see them. Their presence was gone; they fled from my miserable mind. Only an echo left behind by the all consuming absence of my sun. Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing, except Bella's chance of having a normal life. I desperately clung to the hope of giving Bella back her normal human life that I had selfishly stolen.

Was I going to ever do anything right? It didn't matter now; there was nothing to do right _for._

I stayed like that until the sky became dark; dulling the colors around me. I pulled myself up reluctantly and took off again into the trees before I could convince myself otherwise. Her face clouded my mind, never ceasing to rip apart my hollow chest. Running didn't dull the pain one bit. As I got closer to Oregon and civilization, I started to here someone's thoughts every now and then; the thoughts of those who lived in the outskirts of Oregon, where trees took up most of the space. I envied every single one of those humans. Wishing I could be like them. Desperately wishing I could be with Bella without risking her life every second I was with her.

I made it to the parking lot in Portland -where I had told Carlisle to leave my car- about two hours later; having to walk in some places of the city; my head hung low the whole time.

_There he is; I was getting worried . . ._ A familiar voice thought. I looked up to see Carlisle leaning against my car five yards away. This had caught me by surprise; I was so wrapped up in my own agony, I really hadn't been paying attention to anything else. I walked slowly towards him; mindful of the humans present. I hadn't expected him to meet me. I had told him to leave right away so he didn't have to see me like this. I knew it would cause him pain. I was causing everyone pain lately.

"Carlisle." I croaked as I approached him. I sounded dead.

"Edward." He breathed.

_He looks agonized . . . _

"I am." I replied to his thought.

_I am so sorry that you had to do this, son._

"Me, too."

_It will get better . . ._

"I don't think so, Carlisle." I choked. "I'm going away." I added quietly.

_Oh, no, Edward. Please stay._

"I can't, I'm sorry."

_. . . I understand, my son. Please return to us as soon as possible. Please._

"Thank you." I only replied to his first statement. I envied Carlisle's patients and understanding.

"Goodbye, Edward. Please stay in contact. We love you." Carlisle sighed and handed me the keys.

"Pass on my love to Esme. To everyone."

"Of course."

I slid into the driver's seat and started the engine. Carlisle slumped as I pulled out of the parking lot.

_Goodbye, my son. She still loves you, I hope you know that._

I ignored that last thought as I sped down the darkened streets towards the highway. I headed towards emptiness. That's all my life would be forever: Empty and meaningless. Until Bella . . . passed . . . I shuddered. When that did happen, I would pass too. And maybe, if I was lucky, I might be able to see her at the gates of heaven before God sentenced me to hell. I would be contempt after that.


	2. Highway

_*this is sort of a short chapter; I'll try and update soon. It might be awhile before I can. –imredwhiteandblack*_

I sped down the highway, letting myself think of Bella. It hurt, but the memories that I loved the most at least dulled it a tiny bit while also flaring up a different kind of pain. Like the time she stood in the summer rain in her meadow three months ago . . .

_She looked so graceful, painfully beautiful. Her face was turned to the sky slightly, while her eyelids hung heavy from the rain. Her hair had become completely saturated and hung past her waist, almost black. _

_"Enjoying the view?" she teased, feeling my eyes on her._

_"Very much so." I said simply._

_She chuckled and her heart sped up. She looked at me then, turning the full power of her large chocolate eyes onto my soul. My breath caught slightly as the beads of water from her face dripped softly onto her chest. My eyes had followed them unintentionally. I tore my eyes away from the soft lines of her body and met hers. She wouldn't have caught it, I was much too fast, but I felt rude all the same. _

_"A year ago, I would have cursed this weather. I mean, rain in July? But, I have come to accept it." She smiled softly at me. _

_I walked to her, took her face into my hands, and kissed her lightly on the lips. She met my lips with absolute intensity. My body tightened as I felt the unwelcome pull toward her. I pulled away and removed her hands from my hair, wanting to leave them where they were. Can't lose control with her. . ._

I stopped myself from remembering any further. The hollowness howled. I imagined tumble weeds lightly making their way across the inside of my empty chest. My car was almost out of gas. I would have to stop soon. I considered leaving my car somewhere random and just running to the airport. I quickly decided against it; I might turn around and head back to Forks.

. . .

I entered the doors of the airport with my head still hanging low. I carried an almost empty suitcase with me; I already had the apartment in Brazil stocked with everything before I left Forks. I waited in line without feeling anything. I was basically numb, besides the hollow feeling.

"Hello." The woman behind the stand said when I had reached the front of the line. I looked up reluctantly.

_Woah . . ._ She thought. I could see myself in her mind. The image sickened me.

I mumbled out a response and handed her my passport. She struggled to look away from me, having to go over my passport several times in her mind before she could understand anything.

_He looks really sad . . . I wonder if I could give him my number. Hmm, 'Edward', what a nice name. He is one fine piece of work . . ._

"Eight o'clock flight to Brazil, miss." I became impatient with the human woman.

"O-of course." She stuttered, handing me a ticket.

"Thank you." I mumbled.

_Dammit. He got away._

After going through all of the routines, I climbed into the plane and settled into my seat, preparing for the longest and most painful plane ride of my existence.


	3. Rio

_*It turns out that I had more time than I thought. enjoy –imredwhiteandblack*_

Being on the plane was miserable. Almost every female snuck a look at me whenever they got the chance. All of them thinking of an excuse to talk to me. I had stopped noticing this once Bella entered my existence. I was always too distracted to hear the thoughts of surrounding females. But now, I had nothing to distract me anymore. - I thought of the irony in that. I had told Bella about how easily vampires became distracted. I had lied; the situation was the complete opposite of what I said. - Couldn't they see I was grieving? They didn't even look past the lure of the predator. They didn't pay attention to the danger I had become; I was unstable. A young woman with wild red hair looked back at me, feeling confident in her beauty. I glared back at her; she reminded me of what I was on a mission of destruction for: Victoria. She averted her eyes, feeling uncomfortable. She was frightened by my murderous glare.

_Crazy asshole . . . he's still hot, though._

I hint of brown caught my eye across the aisle. I locked eyes with a brown haired girl with chocolate eyes. They weren't nearly as deep as Bella's, but it stopped me in my tracks. I stared intently at her; willing her to be Bella. She blushed and turned away. I looked like a total maniac.

_Woah, _she thought,_ that was weird. _

The seat next to me was empty and I was grateful. I would have been worried for whoever might have sat there. I closed my eyes and looked at myself from the minds of others. I looked broken, not to them; they only had a slight idea what I was feeling, but I could see the broken man clearer than anyone else. The curious eyes became irritating to me. I wanted to be alone with my agony. I wanted to be alone in my darkness. But they persisted; sneaking looks more than often due to my closed eyes. A flight attendant took her chance and walked over to me.

"Hello, sir?"

I opened my eyes slowly to look at her.

"What?" I said rudely; I honestly didn't care about manners anymore.

"Um, I w-was wondering if you n-needed a pillow." She wasn't expecting the glare I was giving her.

"Have you ever had your heart ripped out, Ms.—," I pretended to look at her name tag, "Carson?" Okay, I was overdoing it, but I still didn't care. Maybe if she thought I was mentally unstable, she'd leave me alone.

"Uh, n-no?"

"Well, then you wouldn't know that a pillow isn't going to make a difference in how I feel right now."

"Oh, um, okay . . ." _Oh my God, what the hell? _

I closed my eyes again, waiting for her to leave. She stayed there for a moment too long, dumfounded. I almost felt bad for her. Almost.

She stumbled off to tell her friends about the exchange, to tell them that I was crazy. She wasn't that far off . . .

In twenty four hours I would be in South America. A few stops along the way would slow things down, but that didn't worry me; I wasn't in a hurry for anything anymore. I had bought an apartment in Rio de Janeiro a while ago - before we had moved to Forks - and planned to spend most of my time in it now, and maybe go out at night in an attempt to clear my head. The Brazilian city had a lot of people in it, approximately 6.3 million; a lot of minds to hear. I would start tracking Victoria as soon as I could make myself go outside after entering the apartment. She didn't worry me too much, but I didn't want her to get anywhere near Bella. Bella was safe; Victoria was much too frightened by us and didn't plan on going back to Forks any time soon. I would find her by the time she started to get anxious and suspicious. She wasn't very bright, even for an immortal, but she was fast and she knew how to get out of danger quickly.

I would arrive in Brazil around three o'clock in the morning, due to the six hour time difference and the added twenty six hours of plane ride. I waited impatiently for that time to come.

. . .

Rio was crowded; I had to squeeze my way through the bodies in the streets despite the early hour. I searched for a taxi to take me to my apartment. I found one shortly after and waved it down.

"Dois, três, quatro Complexo de Apartamentos Copacabana." I told the taxi driver the apartment complex adress as I strapped on my seatbelt.

"Você quer que eu chegar lá mais rápido?" The driver asked. He could tell by my clothes that I was wealthy and he knew I would give more money if he went faster than normal. Going faster would cost me quite a bit more, but that wasn't an issue.

"Sim, o mais rápido possível." I wanted to get there as fast as possible.

It was a two hour drive to the apartment complex. So much for going faster.

"Obrigado." I thanked the taxi driver as I handed him a wad of South American bills, slaming the car door before he could responed.

The appartment was large, I had only lived in it for a month when I first bought it. It became cramped back then, when I wasn't able to go out durrung the daytime. Now, the nicely furnashed space was the exact opposite; it was perfect for hiding.

. . . It was just what I needed.


	4. Confrontation

_I walked into the house, softly closing the door behind me. My family was already there, waiting anxiously. Alice's mind was the loudest, the angriest. _

_"No, Edward! You can't make me leave her!" She got in my face, pointing an accusing finger. "You're not the only one who cares for her! She is apart of this family! Jasper is sorry, you already know that, but she is protected! We will not let this happen again!" She screamed. Jasper cringed behind her._

_I shook my head at her; I had already made up my mind. Her glare penetrated through me. She could see in her vision that I wasn't going to change my mind. She turned her back on me and fled upstares. Jasper followed her, too ashamed to face me. Esme looked at me with motherly worry in her eyes._

_"Edward?" She asked softly. Alice hadn't told anyone about my latest plans._

_"We must leave Forks." I told all of them. Rosalie hissed as Emmet shook his head. Carlisle and Esme exchanged warry glances. Alice hissed from her room upstairs._

_"Are you joking, Edward?" Rosalie spat. "I'm am not leaving because of a human girl. She can take her chances. It's inevidable anyway, Edward. Leaving her human is going to get her killed. We all knew this from the begining." Her thoughts were an angry snarl._

_I growled at her and clenched my fists. _

_"She's got a point, Bro." Emmet took sides with his soul mate._

_"We were going to leave anyway, Rosalie, people are getting suspicious of Carlisle's age." I said through clenched teeth. I exaggerated a little bit on that last one._

_"Edward, can't we wait a little while to see how things play out?" Carlisle asked._

_"I don't think that will be possible." I looked at him with pleading eyes. _

_This is a mess, isn't it, son . . . He thought sadly._

_"Oh, Edward, don't hurt yourself by leaving her. It will kill you!" Esme said as she hung her head in her hands._

_"I have to do what's right, Esme."_

_My poor boy . . . Her thoughts sobbed._

_"I am leaving if you won't, but I ask you this: Please leave Bella alone; she will be suffering enough." I stared intently at them._

_"No, we will leave if you are." Carlisle sighed. "But, I wish things would not have come to this."_

_"I wish the same, Carlisle, you all must leave before me. No one is to say goodbye to her. I want to make this as little difficult as possible." My voice nearly broke at the end._

_"WHAT?" Alice screached, flying down the stairs. "I can't even say goodbye to her?"_

_"Alice, I want to make this a clean break. Do you understand?" I looked at her with agonized eyes. She couldn't argue with me looking at her like I was._

_" . . . Fine." She glared at me, though her thoughts were sad. Jasper followed her shortly after, his head hung low._

_I am so sorry, Edward. I could never be more sorry. He thought._

_"Thank you, Jasper, I understand."_

_Everyone glanced at him warrily._

_. . . _

It was seven in the morning, and the sun filtered through a crack in the curtains. I had resumed my tight, upright ball position on the livingroom floor. My last confrontation with my family played over and over again in my mind. As if it was on repeat. The other side of my brain was accupied by Bella. I had sat like that for hours, not moving an inch; it seemed if I stayed perfectly still, the pain only stayed in my chest, mingaling with the hollowness.

My phone buzzed inside my pocket. I slowly retrieved it and looked at the caller ID: Alice Cullen. I flipped it open.

"Alice?" Again, I sounded dead.

"Edward." Alice breathed.

"What is it?" I was toneless.

"How is Rio?"

"Do you have to ask?"

"Sorry." She sounded hesitant.

"Why did you really call, Alice?"

"Uh, well, . . . Bella wandered into the woods when you left, they didn't find her until two thirty this morning. She had tripped and fell in the shrubbery, she fell asleep on the ground. But, she's . . . okay now. I don't know who found her; I didn't see that part, but I saw her on the couch sleeping this morning." She sounded uncertain of something.

"Is she really okay, Alice. She's not hurting too much, is she?" I sounded desperate.

"She . . . is . . . still breathing." She said.

"Oh my God, what have I done?"

"It'll be okay, Edward." Alice sighed into the receiver. "I miss her already . . ."

"I have to go, Alice, goodbye." I hung up the phone and wrapped my arms around my legs. I planed to spend the rest of the day like that.


	5. Isabel

_*Sorry for the wait. My Word Processor was being stupid so I had to get it fixed. I hope you enjoy - imredwhiteandblack*_

As I walked through the crowded streets, my mind was filled with voices. The

Streetlamps lit the side walk and the bodies standing on it. A woman with dark skin pressed her self closer to me as I tried to pass. She quickly pulled away after feeling the unfamiliar and uncomfortable coldness of my skin. A few Portuguese exclamations ran through her mind as I quickly pushed away from her, going deeper into the crowd. I passed a little girl who had lost her mother and was searching franticly for her. I quickly picked out the equally stressed thoughts of her mother and bent down to the child.

"Sua mãe está lá." I pointed to her mother who was ahundred feet away.

She looked at me gratefully and bolted towards the frantic older woman. Her mother embraced the girl as relief washed through her mind. The little girl, Maria, explained to her that a tall, pale man pointed her in the mother's direction a moment ago. Confusion dominated the woman's mind while the gratefulness took a back seat. I disappeared once again into the sea of bodies. I was in the middle of a festival, glad to be completely submerged. The past few weeks had made me a different person: a colder person. I did as much right as I possibly could; attempting to redeem my self, which was impossible. Of course.

Bella would be disappointed with how I chose to spend my days; curled up in a ball, feeling sorry for myself.

"Jeez, Edward," she would say if she were there, "get off your butt and do something productive. Go find Victoria or something." Her voice rang in my head; my perfect memory of it made the thought even worse. My brain racked for a nano-second before I realized what just happened.

Victoria.

I had to start tracking her, and soon. Honestly, the thought made me doubtful, considering my not-so-great tracking skills. I had been telling myself to go find the female, but for some reason, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I thought about that for a second. Maybe it was because she would remind me of Bella. The last time I saw her, I was protecting Bella from James. This entire situation had to do with Bella. And _everything_ reminded me of Bella now. From just a girl with brown eyes to a random book store. I was lame-comedy-breakup-movie appropriate. I would walk by, thinking: "If Bella was here, she would want to go in there." And then I would walk away; sulking. Yeah, it was pretty sad. At least she wasn't here to see me in this state. If she _were_ here, I wouldn't be in this state anyway. I had to keep telling myself more and more often to not go back to her.

I argued with myself about going back just to check on her; to see if she was happy . . . or if she had already found someone new. I doubted it, but I just wanted to _check . . . _

_And then what? _I asked myself. _Would you leave satisfied? It's what you _wanted; _for her to be happy, for her to move on without you. _

I decided that I wouldn't leave happy for_ me,_ but I _would _leave happy for her. I wondered what would happen if I couldn't help but beg her to take me back. If I just showed up at her window one night, got on my knees, and begged until she cast me away. I fanaticized that she would choose me over the human boy and I would hold her in my arms once again. But that wasn't going to happen because I was not going back. That and the fact that she wouldn't choose me. And that made me sick.

I sat on a curb now, my face buried in my hands. How did things get like this? I thought of the first time I saw Bella. She sat amongst undeserving humans. She graced them with her presence unselfishly. How had I thought her plain? She was the most beautiful and bright creature in that mundane cafeteria. She was too good for anyone, especially me.

_Oh! Maybe this guy speaks English. Please, God, let him speak English! _A young woman's thought interrupted my sulking. She walked over to me to get a closer look.

"Excuse me?"

I didn't look up.

"Ehem, excuse me?"

I reluctantly lifted my head to see yet another girl with long brown hair and big brown eyes. Did the world hate me now?

_Holy shit._

"Hi, um . . . d-do you s-speak English?"

I considered looking at her like I had no idea what she was saying with a: "Não estou entendendo." But the big brown eyes seriously made me hate my self for even considering it.

"Yes."

"Oh, thank God! That's a first!"

She needed help finding a hotel.

"Can I help you with something?" I said, getting up and brushing myself off.

"Uh, yes, I really need help finding a hotel, I can't find _anything _here! My friends dragged me here and then I lost them, and now I'm freaking out."

I didn't know what I was doing, it was really stupid, I should have just told her where the nearest hotel was and not even offered her a ride, but—: "The hotels here are awful; you can stay at my apartment if you want."

"Really?" _Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God._

"Yeah, sure. I mean, if you trust me. Apprently, I'm the only English speaking guy around here."

"Uh, yeah, sure."

I smiled despite myself. This was such a Bella moment. There was defiantly something wrong with me.

"Isabel." she said holding out her hand.

"Awesome, just perfect." I muttered. The world really _did HATE _me . . .

"What?"

"Uh, nothing. Edward." I turned away from her hand and began to walk back to my rental car.

_Okay? That was alittle odd . . . _She thought, following me.

_You have no idea. _I thought. This was so different from my normal routine that it kind of scared me.


	6. Spending the Night

"Wow, this is really nice." Isabel said as she set her purse on the coffee table. "So where am I sleeping?" She turned to look at me. I stood in the kitchen, pulling out a glass from the cabinet.

"I'll show you in a second; do you want something to drink?"

"Anything alcoholic." She said.

_To calm my freaking nerves . . . _

"I don't drink alcohol, but there's soda." I smiled internally.

"That will have to do." She sighed.

I poured her a glass of the repulsive liquid and joined her in the living room.

"Here, I'll show you your room." I began to walk down the hallway. She followed me.

_Oh my God, I wonder if I should jump him tonight. Or would that freak him out? Oh, God, I don't know! He's so effing hot though! _

I rolled my eyes. She seemed to be a nice girl until she started up with her internal dilemmas about me.

"Do you need something to wear to bed?" I asked her.

_Not with you around, I don't . . . _

"Uh, yeah, I think so."

"Okay."

I pushed open the door of the apartment guest room.

"Well, this is it. I'll be right back with something for you to wear."

"Thanks."

I left her to argue with herself about brining up the subject of sleeping with me. I hoped she would give up soon. When I entered my rarely-used room, I opened the top drawer of my dresser. I pulled out a Tee shirt and a pair of boxer shorts. A wave of guilt washed over me. Letting a woman that wasn't Bella wear my underwear seemed very wrong. I stuffed them back into the drawer and pulled out a pair of khaki shorts. They might be a little uncomfortable to sleep in but it really didn't matter at that point.

I could hear her in the other room dumping the contents of her purse on the bed.

_Condom, condom, condom; please be in here! Maybe he'll have one . . . of course he will; he's a freaking male model!_

I imagined myself going into her room laying my hand on hers to stop her from rummaging through the mess and saying: _"There is no need for a condom in this situation, miss; first of all, I will not be sharing something that was meant for another woman – a woman who means everything to me - with you. Second of all; even if I was, I couldn't impregnate you because I'm a 'real vamp' as the kids call us these days . . ."_

Yeah, I was pretty sure she would reconsider her original plans after hearing that. Instead, I knocked on her door as she put the last of the items on the bed back into her purse; disappointed that she could not find a birth control device.

"Here are some night clothes, sorry if they're not that comfortable; they're the only ones I have that might fit you." I handed her the bundle. "So, if there is an _emergency,_" I emphasized on the 'emergency' part. "I'm right down the hall to the left and the bathroom is across from my room. Okay, I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."

"Okay, thanks again."

"Your welcome."

I left her to sulk. I was going to be a long night hiding out in my room. Tonight probably was going to be the longest I'd ever spent in that room. The time went by slowly as I listened to Isabel's dreams. They were nothing remarkable; just random events from her past accruing in her mind once again.

It was going to be overcast in the morning. I had heard it from several minds earlier that evening. And as I left my room early to wait for Isabel to wake up, the news confirmed this. The rest of the day would be cloudy with little rain here and there.

I heard Isabel shift in her bed as slightly conscious thoughts filled her brain.

_What time is it? Seven in the morning? What am I doing up so early; I went to bed at, like, three in the morning! Where am I? But most importantly; why am I up this early? _An image of my face entered her thoughts. _Oh! That's why . . . where is he? I hear the T.V. I better get up so he doesn't think I'm a total slacker._

She got out of bed; straightening out the make-shift pajamas I had given her. The shorts were big, so she pulled the draw string as tight as it would go.

"Good morning, Isabel. I hope you slept well?" I said to her as she came into the living room with her hair looking like a haystack. The hollowness howled at the sight. It was so Bella-looking.

"Yeah, great, thanks. That mattress is amazing." She said as she plopped herself into an armchair next to the couch I was currently stretched out on. I wondered if this scenario would make Bella jealous. I thought about the profanity of that. Like any other woman would have the hold that Bella had on me. She probably wouldn't care now, anyway. Now that she thought I was a total sociopath.

Isabel and I watched the only American news station in silence for a while. The news reporter was going on about a breakthrough in cancer treatment when Isabel's stomach growled. It was so loud, that a human would have easily heard the grumble. I laughed as her face turned red. And then again, the hollowness would not let me enjoy the familiarity of the moment.

"Hungry?" I tried to make it sound light, but the word came out harshly as the hollowness pounded. She didn't notice.

"Starving." She said.

"I'll take you to breakfast."

"Oooh, like a date?" She smiled.

"No, not really . . ." Again, the words were harsh.

"Oh . . . alrighty." That had stung her. She wasn't used to being rejected. The air was awkward until her stomach growled again.

"Okay, let's go." I said grabbing up my jacket.

"Okay, let me just go throw on my clothes from last night."

"Sure."

She returned to her room, nearly hyperventilating.


End file.
